Minamoto no Yoshitomo

Minamoto no Yoshitomo (源 義朝) (1123 – February 11, 1160) was the head of the Minamoto clan
and a general of the late Heian period of Japanese history. His
son Minamoto no
Yoritomo became shogun and founded the Kamakura Shogunate,
the first shogunate in the history of Japan.

Hōgen Rebellion

With the outbreak of the Hōgen Rebellion in 1156, the members of the
Minamoto and Taira
samurai clans
were beckoned into the conflict. Yoshitomo sided along with Taira no Kiyomori in
support of the Emperor
Go-Shirakawa and Fujiwara no
Tadamichi, while his father Minamoto no
Tameyoshi, then head of the Minamoto clan, with his young son Minamoto no
Tametomo and Taira
no Tadamasa sided with the retired Emperor Sutoku and Fujiwara no
Yorinaga.

Yoshitomo, defeating his father and the forces of Sutoku and Yorinaga, became
head of the Minamoto and established himself as a political power in the capital
of Kyoto. However,
despite his attempts to have his father pardoned, Tameyoshi was executed. Also,
the outcome of the Hōgen rebellion established the Minamoto and Taira as the two
strongest political rivals in the country.

Heiji Rebellion

Three years later in 1159, Yoshitomo and Fujiwara no
Nobuyori placed Go-Shirakawa under house arrest and killed his retainer, the
scholar Fujiwara no
Michinori in what is called the Heiji Rebellion.
Yoshitomo was angry that the Taira had became the favorite of the imperial court
after the Hogen Rebellion despite the sacrifice of the Minamoto. Eventually,
Taira no Kiyomori in support of Go-Shirakawa, defeated Yoshitomo and killed his
two eldest sons and Nobuyori, releasing Go-Shirakawa.

While escaping from Kyoto in Owari Province, Yoshitomo
was betrayed and killed by a retainer. His remaining sons Yoritomo along with Minamoto no
Yoshitsune and Minamoto no
Noriyori were later spared and exiled by Kiyomori.

It is said that Yoshitomo was killed unarmed taking a bath at a hot spring.
His grave in Aichi prefecture is
surrounded on all sides by wooden swords, as by legend his last words were "If I
even only had a bokuto...".